Passive in Italian

The Italian passive voice (voce passiva) aims to focus on the action conveyed by the verb and neither on the subject nor on the object.

Usually, the structure of the passive voice follows the same rules:

the subjectof the active sentence becomes the agentof the passive one;

the objectof the active sentence becomes the subject of the passive one.

Example of the passive voice

Simple tense: present indicative

La pera è mangiata da Luigi. (The pear is eaten by Luigi)

Compound tense: present perfect indicative

La pera è stata mangiata da Luigi. (The pear has been eaten by Luigi)

Conjugation of the passive voices

The passive voice, instead, conjugates verbs using:

the verb essere + the past participle of the specific verb in simple tenses;

the compound form of essere (essere stato) + the past participle of the specific verb for the compound tenses.

Remember! In the passive form, the past participle both of the verb (for the simple tenses) and of essere (for the compound tenses) has to follow the agreement with the subject of the sentence for number and gender.

Below, you will find the conjugation tables for the verb vedere (to see).

Indicative mood

Present

Present Perfect

Imperfect

Past Perfect

Absolute Past

Preterite Perfect

Future Simple

Future Perfect

Io

sono visto

sono stato visto

ero visto

ero stato visto

fui visto

fui stato visto

sarò visto

sarò stato visto

Tu

sei visto

sei stato visto

eri visto

eri stato visto

fosti visto

fosti stato visto

sarai visto

sarai stato visto

Egli / ella

è visto

è stato visto

era visto

era stato visto

fu visto

fu stato visto

sarà visto

sarà stato visto

Noi

siamo visti

siamo stati visti

eravamo visti

eravamo stati visti

fummo visti

fummo stati visti

saremo visti

saremo stati visti

Voi

siete visti

siete stati visti

eravate visti

eravate stati visti

foste visti

foste stati visti

sarete visti

sarete stati visti

Essi / esse

sono visti

sono stati visti

erano visti

erano stati visti

furono visti

furono stati visti

saranno visti

saranno stati visti

Subjunctive mood

Present

Past

Imperfect

Present Perfect

(Che) io

sia visto

sia stato visto

fossi visto

fossi stato visto

(Che) tu

sia visto

sia stato visto

fossi visto

fossi stato visto

(Che) egli / ella

sia visto

sia stato visto

fosse visto

fosse stato visto

(Che) noi

siamo visti

siamo stati visti

fossimo visti

fossimo stati visti

(Che) voi

siate visti

siate stati visti

foste visti

foste stati visti

(Che) essi / esse

siano visti

siano stati visti

fossero visti

fossero stati visti

Conditional mood

Present

Past

Io

sarei visto

sarei stato visto

Tu

saresti visto

saresti stato visto

Egli / ella

sarebbe visto

sarebbe stato visto

Noi

saremmo visti

saremmo stati visti

Voi

sareste visti

sareste stati visti

Essi / esse

sarebbero visti

sarebbero stati visti

Infinitive mood

Present

Past

Essere visto

Essere stato visto

Imperative mood

Present

Io

-

Tu

sii visto

Egli / ella

sia visto

Noi

siamo visti

Voi

siate visti

Essi / esse

siano visti

Participle mood

Present

Past

-

visto

Gerund mood

Present

Past

Essendo visto

Essendo stato visto

Related grammar topics:

Description

The verb essere is fundamental for the conjugation of verbs to the passive voice.

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